The TOUR Insider: Northern Trust Open

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Charles Howell III won his second PGA TOUR event last year at Riviera Country Club, but when he returns to what is now called the Northern Trust Open, he will be defending a title for the first time. He could not have chosen a more challenging defense site.

Charles Howell played the first four events on the 2008 schedule, making four cuts. He has six rounds in the 60s. (Getty Images)

TOUR Insider's Power Rankings

Northern Trust Open

Pos. Player 2007 Finish 1. Adam Scott T69 2. Phil Mickelson P2 3. Robert Allenby T3 4. Steve Elkington T18 5. Fred Couples DNP

Storied Riviera Country Club tends to draw a crowd. This year is no different.

Eight of the top 10 players in the Official World Golf Ranking and 17 of 20 populate a field of 144 players for this week's final stop in California, and the supporting cast looks like a European Ryder Cup team excursion with the likes of Luke Donald, Justin Rose, Sergio Garcia, Paul Casey, Lee Westwood and British Open champion Padraig Harrington entered. All but Harrington will be making their first PGA TOUR start of 2008.

Likewise, Presidents Cup players Adam Scott and two-time U.S. Open champion Retief Goosen are breaking initial ground this year in America. Only Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and Henrik Stenson are skipping this tradition-rich stop in Pacific Palisades, Calif., which in its 82nd year offers a $6.2 million purse, $1 million more than last year.

Howell, 28, won the 2002 Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, its final edition, so this week's Northern Trust Open will be the first time he gets to go for the repeat, even though it had a different name last year. Howell, 28, defeated Phil Mickelson in a playoff to end a run in which he had finished second nine times after his initial TOUR victory.

"When I did win last year, it certainly didn't feel like I had won or done this before," Howell said. "You know, five years is a bit removed from winning. So the confidence gain from that, not just necessarily winning in a playoff, but the field that was there -- I think it was eight of the top ten players in the world -- was a big boost for me."

Howell, ranked 38th in the world, faces similarly long odds with such a strong field. Fortunately, the George C. Thomas design, 7,279 yards, par 71, seems to suit his straightforward and basic skills. Driving areas are well defined, and the small greens allow him to zero in on the middle of putting surfaces with his strong iron game.

"It's funny how golf is. You can tell when a golf course fits your eye the first time you play it," Howell, who has three top-10s in six starts at Riviera, said. "And from the first time I went around Riviera, I just loved the shape of it. I love how every hole is defined by trees, but you never feel really claustrophobic on it. It's not overly tight, but the trees do shape the golf course. I've always liked that about it."

FEDEXCUP POINTERS

• Adam Scott, the 2005 champion, returns to Riviera to make his PGA TOUR season debut. All he did in his last start, on the European Tour, was shoot a closing 61 to win the Qatar Masters. He did that, by the way, using new Titleist AP2 irons that aren't yet available on the market.

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Video: Northern Trust Open preview
Video: Rich Beem's ace at Riviera in 2007

• Also getting in his first TOUR start of '08 is enigmatic Sergio Garcia, whose big challenge (which is his big challenge every year, it seems) is to get his putting to match up with the rest of his tremendous game. Garcia, winless now for going on two years, has already tried two different putters and four grip techniques (including the claw) in a two-week stretch on the European Tour.

• Vijay Singh, who lost to Steve Lowery last week in a playoff at Pebble Beach, has his own putting problems. He went back to a conventional putter, but ranked near the bottom for the week to offset his lead in greens in regulation. Might check to see if he returns this week to the belly putter as he attempts to change his mojo at Riviera, where he has yet to finish in the top 10 in six appearances.

• Nick Faldo, whose last TOUR title was at Riviera in 1998, obviously isn't playing much between his gigs at CBS and Golf Channel, but when he does finally get on the links (probably at the British Open), he'll be wielding new clubs courtesy of a fresh TaylorMade deal. Faldo is getting outfitted with all 14 clubs and plans to help in the development of new irons.

• Speaking of TaylorMade, Kenny Perry changed irons to TM's new Burner irons at Buick Invitational. Perry said he made the switch because their design and feel were reminiscent of some older models he used to use.

• After tying his career best with a second-place finished at Buick Invitational, Ryuji Imada withdrew from the FBR Open after 27 holes with pain in his right hip and knee. He did not play at Pebble Beach, but he is entered this week at the Northern Trust Open, where his best finish is a tie for 65th in three starts.

• A great note from Dave Lancer at PGA TOUR headquarters points out the importance of putting at Riviera, and Charles Howell won't deny it was a key for him last year in his win over Phil Mickelson.

• Of the last 15 winners at Riviera, 12 men enjoyed one of their two best putting weeks. Still, it's doubtful anyone will be able to win without some keen ball striking this week. The Los Angeles Times reports that the kikuyu rough has grown to more than 2 inches, higher than last year. That equates to about 4 inches of fescue rough, meaning driving accuracy will be crucial

• Might want to watch out for Steve Elkington this week at Riviera Country Club. Winless since the 1999 Doral Ryder-Open, the smooth-swinging Aussie has played well thus far in '08, and he knows how to navigate Riviera Country Club, having won the 1995 PGA Championship there.

• Not only is Elkington worth watching, but so are any of the top international players. Howell's win at Riviera was just the second by an American in six years. Seven of the last 11 editions of the tournament that began as the Los Angeles Open have been won by non-Americans.